Checks and Balances

GE, Gap, and many more will push the edges of their advertising schemes to convince people that they are either green or pro-social. International Herald Tribune reported at http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/01/17/business/bxgreen.php in January of 2006 that Ecologists are unmoved by recent trends in advertising. They were especially bothered by sketchy advertisements from Ford and BP. However, there is good news for people with similar concerns as the ecologists of www.iht.com. As companies work at pushing to edges of their products and their ethical decisions, the FTC has stepped up with Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims. (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/grnrule/guides980427.htm) Quoting from section 260.2,

“These guides apply to environmental claims included in labeling, advertising, materials and all other forms of marketing, whether asserted directly or by implication, through words, symbols, emblems, logos, depictions, product brand names, or through any other means, including marketing through digital or electronic means, such as the Internet or electronic mail. The guides apply to any claim about the environmental attributes of a product, package or service in connection with the sale, offering for sale, or marketing of such product, package or service for personal, family or household use, or for commercial, institutional or industrial use.”

In other words, the FTC worked extremely hard to cover all of their bases in assuring that the edges of the truth of companies in advertising don’t turn into lies.

There are also many grassroots movements that are ensuring the truth in advertising. The most popular of these movements is adbusters.org. The company posts a slew of clever spoof advertising that puts perspective on what companies are working to sell. The following are spoof advertisements regarding cigarettes. The organization also uses many methods in raising awareness and practicing fair trade capitalism. A hot series of products that they are working to sell are the blackspot sunswoosher shoes. Again, this is a “reverse” product campaign against the corporate monster, Nike. They call their sneakers the world’s most ethical shoes. The company boasts, “it's made in a safe, comfortable union factory with environmentally sound, all-vegetarian materials, including 100% organic hemp uppers. But for the boot we’ve been able to take things even farther with soles made from reclaimed used tires.” On both a government level, through the FTC, and on a grassroots level, through companies like Adbusters, people are working hard to ensure an ethical balance in how people use pro-green and pro-social advertising.